Although there are is an almost infinite number
more of brush topics, this will be the wrap up for us. We have spent the last several weeks talking
about how you can customize the brushes and even create your own. Today, we are going to discuss the tool that
really can unleash the inner artist in you.
If you are still using a mouse or a trackball in doing your masking or
creative works, you are working with a distinct disadvantage. Some NAPPster said that “Drawing with a mouse
is just like painting with a brick”.
There is a much better and more natural way—a graphics tablet and
pen. The Wacom tablets have been
designed to maximize your control of the Adobe Interface and specifically the
power of the brushes. The pen is both
pressure and angle sensitive. Just like
with a pencil, a paint brush or pastel chalk, the harder you press on the pen
the darker the result and the wider the swath. I
am not going to spend a lot of time describing how you can customize the tablet
buttons specifically for the things you do in each application.

Nor
am I going to dwell on how even the ring controls can be tailored.

. Nope, I am going back to the brush menu to
cover the two icons we didn’t discuss. The
two circled icons tell Photoshop to let the pen controls override the
settings.

On
the left, the globe tells PS to let pen pressure control the opacity. Press lightly, and only a little color comes through. The
control on the right tells the pen that the harder you press, the bigger the
brush size will be.

In addition to all that coolness, if you go back into the
Brush preset menu (F5), all those controls can also be set to be controlled by
the pen pressure or the angle. The pen
gives you very, very precise control.
Don’t forget that each layer can be adjusted separately and the
specialized layer effects applied. Now
go out and create some cool art.